London's real name was John George Harper, but he changed it because of his admiration for the American novelist. He was born in the Mount Pleasant area (now demolished) of West Hartlepool, and later lived in Brenda Road and Ashbrooke Avenue. He trained at Gunner Ainsley's Gymnasium , Todd Square, Headland.
London began boxing at the old Redworth Street ring in 1931. Despite lacking speed, he was a heavy puncher and fought with distinction against such as Sunderland's Jack Casey at the Engineers Club grounds, and the great Larry Gains in Newcastle and Liverpool. The war, however, interrupted his career at its peak and it was not until 1944 that he got his chance to win the British and British Empire titles against Freddie Mills at Belle Vue, Manchester. The following year he lost the titles after being knocked out by Bruce Woodcock at the Tottenham Hotspur ground in London. He retired in 1949, having won 96 out of 142 bouts. In 1959, Brian London, Jack's son, won the same titles his father had held, before eventually losing them to Henry Cooper. Unlike his father, Brian challenged for the heavyweight championship of the world in 1959, but lost to Floyd Patterson in the eleventh round.
Another fine Hartlepool boxer was Teddy Gardner, the British Empire and European Flyweight champion. A famous North East fighter was Jack Casey, the 'Sunderland Assassin', son of a ship-riveter. As Archie Potts writes, Casey's best years covered 1926-34 and he fought mostly in the North East. Over a period of two years, Casey beat Jack London, Tommy Farr, Jock MacAvoy and Archie Sexton. Casey was famed for his durability. In over two hundred pro fights he was never knocked out. He had one chance to win the British middle-weight title but lost on points over 15 rounds to the great Len Harvey in December 1932 at the St James Hall, Newcastle. Casey seems not to have held on to his winnings, and stayed close to his roots. He and his wife lived in Bright Street, Sunderland. Casey played the piano accordion and sang. Unlike Tommy Farr, he made no popular records.
Another boxing great was 'Seaman Tommy Watson', born in Byker in 1906. In November 1932, he won the British featherweight title from Nel Tarleton in Liverpool, and went to New York, where he eventually lost on points to the outstanding Cuban, Kid Chocolate, who then became in effect world featherweight champion. John Jarrett, in his book on Watson (Bewick Press) points out that, by contrast with the USA, Britain banned black men from boxing for national professional titles until 1948.